BRUSSELS (AP) — Britain’s treasury chief says his country could provide both a bilateral and an EU-organized loan to Ireland as part of the imminent global bailout of its No. 1 trading partner.
George Osborne says the EU’s 27 financial chiefs want to sign off Sunday on “the details of the whole package.”
“Obviously we’ve all come here on a Sunday in order to get some stability. It’s absolutely in Britain’s national interest that we sort out Ireland,” Osborne told reporters before entering the hastily convened Brussels conference.
When asked about the total amount of a proposed bilateral loan and Britain’s contribution to a wider bailout fund, Osborne said, “That’s precisely what we’re going to discuss today, the details of the Irish package.”
